Dear Dead Reckoning:Managerial competencies are often captured in some type of competency model, success profile, or a list of attributes or success factors that describe the knowledge, skills and abilities necessary for success. Companies often need to evaluate managerial competence before these types of models have been fully defined or, if defined, before such models are integrated with performance appraisal systems.

One best practice is to create a partial model and use it in some other system in which it is easier to begin evaluations. One such example would be to define the behaviors that support the values of your organization as a partial model. You may have values such as customer focus, collaboration or innovations that help define the entire company culture. Using a focus-group technique, you can fairly quickly arrive at a set of behaviors that exemplify those values at the managerial level, and that also apply to all employees generally (including managers).A partial success profile is fine to use for developmental purposes, but would need to be supplemented with more detail and a fuller profile if used for promotion or selection decisions (to meet various legal requirements). In these ways, you will begin identifying important aspects of the managerial role that also support your company culture, while discovering ways to assess those competencies before including them as part of a formal appraisal system.SOURCE: Michael Haid, Right Management, Philadelphia, July 9, 2010LEARN MORE: Please read tips on how to measure the productivity of managers—often elusive to capture.Workforce Management Online, August 2010 -- Register Now!The information contained in this article is intended to provide useful information on the topic covered, but should not be construed as legal advice or a legal opinion. Also remember that state laws may differ from the federal law.

The information contained in this article is intended to provide useful information on the topic covered, but should not be construed as legal advice or a legal opinion. Also remember that state laws may differ from the federal law.

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